Blurring Boundaries
by Hanaleison
Summary: A Child has dreams of an alternate life on the planet of Pandora that are not her own. Watch as she journeys to Pandora trying to reach those dreams with everything she has. Rating may change as the story progresses!
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone! This was an idea that popped into my head while I was reading... I forget what I was reading but it's still an idea. I just thought that I'd share it with you all just because and I want to see where this'll take me. Hope you like it!**

**-Hana**

**Disclaimer: ...I'm sorry I don't own this... I tried bargaining with James Cameron but he wouldn't have it. So now I'm stuck writing my ideas out in fanfiction... :(**

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_Up in the highest branches of the Kelutral, reside the Ikran. This is how it has always been and always will be for as long as the Omaticaya are here. Up there, at night, it is peaceful. Most of the Ikran are asleep and the few who aren't just watch quietly, interested in the world around them. It's one of my favorite places to go when I cannot sleep. _

_I climb as high into the nests as the Ikran will let me before gazing out over the beautiful forests of my home. It's so tranquil here that I'm usually lulled to sleep, listening to the sounds of the Ikran's breathing. If only it was this tranquil during the day. Instead, the other Na'vi come and go as loudly as we Na'vi can ever be and the Ikran's are constantly making noise and being their endearingly vocal selves. _

_Don't get me wrong, I love the Ikran and I can't wait to get my own. I just wish they could be slightly quitter during the day. But then, they wouldn't really be 'Banshee's', as the Dreamwalkers tend to call them. I wonder if my Ikran will be as loud as some of these Ikran. Ney'tiri's Ikran, Seze, is probably one of the most vocal Ikran I've ever seen – and I've seen every single Ikran who's come through Kelutral since I've been able to get up here. _

_I hear my Sa'nu calling for me from the lower branches of the Kelutral and I start climbing down from my perch. I don't worry about falling; I've done it so many times. Every once and a while, I slip slightly but I manage to catch myself before anything happens. I'm halfway down when one of the Ikran brush past me to get to her rider and I miss my footing. I was careless; having already let go of the previous branch, I fall._

_As I fall, the only thing I hear is a blood curdling scream that I barely recognize as my own. As my fall speeds up, I'm bounced off of many different, tiny branches of the Kelutral and am unable to grab any of them or slow my fall. I hadn't been over the main trunk of the Kelutral so it's only a matter of seconds before I'm falling from the canopy and into the open space above the ground._

_In that instant, I regret allowing my parents to keep me from starting my hunter training – where I would've been taught how to correctly fall – for another season. Having seen the hunters-in-training practice once or twice, I try to imitate them by stretching out my body. There must be a reason they do that when falling from branch to branch… mustn't there? _

_My fall slows slightly before it speeds up again and I know I'm going to die._

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I startle awake, safe and in my precious bed covered in old but soft purple linens. My breathing's ragged and I'm covered in sweat as I stare at the low ceiling of my bedroom – it's still decorated in different sized glowing off-white dots that represent what the starry sky would look like if the constant smog didn't prevent it. I turn my head and look over at my tiny desk, the surrounding wall space is covered in different star charts and maps and pictures of different planets that had caught my interest. Scattered across my desk, just as I'd left them, were news articles on one of the newest finds: a planet with humanoid like creatures!

Footsteps pound across the hallway outside my room, slowing as they get closer. The seven shades of purple and blue curtains that serve as the door to my room are gently pushed aside and a head pokes in. Without even looking, I know who it is. My father – the only _real_ adult figure in my life – slides into my room quietly so as not to disturb me incase I'm still not completely here after my dream. Behind him, is my step-mother – the last person I ever want to see… I hate her and the sentiments are generally returned – she only pretends to impress my father.

"Tara, are you okay?" Papa asks as he sits down on the edge of my bed and runs his hand through my hair as he always does when I have a nightmare. I could not ask for a better father – even if he has horrible taste in women.

"I fell off a giant tree," I tell him. Deeming it just a stupid nightmare, my step-mother left to back to bed; I was happy to see her go. "I was someone else – a little girl maybe five years old. I was up in a giant tree with dinosaur bird-like creatures in almost every color – though they were primarily in blues and greens and orangish-browns. My mother – Sa'nu, I think is what I called her – called for me. I tried to climb down – I'd done it loads of times before with no problem – but one of the birds brushed past me and I fell… I think… I think I – she – died…"

"It's okay, my little star," my father reassures me. "Did you actually see her die?"

"I woke up before she hit the ground… I don't want to see anyone else die."

"I know, sweetheart," he smiles down at me as he picks me up and sets me on his giant lap before his arms engulf me in a giant bear hug. I try to wrap my arms around him but they're still too small to make it. "It was only a dream… and for all you know, another of those Pterodactyl's could have saved her."

"…I don't think they did," I let him in on my observations. "They were very hostile when you got too close to them – they only like their chosen riders and they tolerate those their riders say are okay… The girl was always snapped at for getting too close to one of the nests while she was climbing."

"You never know, there could've been a nice Pterodactyl in the bunch that saved her… or one of the riders caught her," Papa tries to give me alternates desperately. I know he hopes that I'll just accept one of them, but until I know otherwise… the little girl fell to her death in a tragic accident that could've been avoided if she'd never gone so high up there like she was supposed to.

"You're right, Papa," I say anyway and he knows that I really don't mean it. We both want this cat and mouse game to be over, however, so he allows the fib. "One of the riders probably did catch her…"

"See, now go to sleep," he smiles; the right side's just a hair higher than the left like always. "You've got a big day tomorrow, lots of exams for class placement."

"Oh, goody," I reply dryly. I hate school but I'll do it and do it right just to make sure I can get out of there all the faster. I can't stand the teachers thinking that they're always right and we, the students, don't know anything at all. And then the other students… the teachers are probably right about most of them. They're all a bunch of idiots whose only job in life is grow up and create more mindless drones. You would think that by now, at the age of fourteen, they'd be more mature than two year olds… I've seen eighteen month olds more mature.

"Go to sleep, Sweetheart," he kisses my forehead and tucks me back in. "In five short hours, I'll be making you some waffles to go with your algae as a special treat to help you get through that nightmare."

We both laugh. It's a tradition. Every year on Placement Exam Day, my father will splurge some money to buy us a couple of waffles and a tiny bit of synthetic syrup to mask the horrible taste of the algae and, in return, I do the best I possibly can – even if I hate it. We've been doing it since I first started school – back when mom was still with us. Because of this, I've done my best to score high enough to skip a level or two in each of my classes. I am the only ten year old in the fourteen-fifteen year old section solidly – and I'm even doing better than most of them. Sadly, that was not me bragging. It's true and you can look at the class standings to prove it. I was ranked third in the overall class by the end of last semester – my grades always suffer just enough every time I skip a level to keep me from first, not that I really want it anyway.

"G'night, Papa," I yawn and snuggle back down into my cocoon of sheets. He kisses my barely visible forehead and I hear his footsteps fading after they briefly pause in the doorway. I take one last look around my bedroom to make sure I'm still here before I succumb to the call of Morpheus.

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**So I hope you all liked it! Review, Favorite, Follow, or whatever it is you do when you like something or have a comment about it - I really like favorites.**

**Now, if anyone has an idea on what I should name the little girl who fell off of Kelutral, please review me your idea of a name and what it means. I have a couple of ideas on it but I want you guys to also have a say in it. My ideas include (but are not limited to):**

**Txe'lan (Heart in Na'vi),**

**Atan (Light in Na'vi),**

**Sevin (Pretty in Na'vi),**

**Tompa (Rain in Na'vi),**

**Tanhì (Star in Na'vi),**

**Mune (The number Two in Na'vi because she's a second child),**

**and, last but not least, Kato (Rhythm in Na'vi).**

**So yeah, you can choose which of those you like or you can come up with another name (and I want the actual meaning of the name) for her.**

**Love you all!**

**Hana**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hiya everyone! Just to let you know, I am in college so my updates may be sporadic but I'll try to get them all at least three Microsoft Word 3 1/2 pages long or longer which generally comes out at about 1.5k words. I'll shut up now so that you all can read!**

**Disclaimer: I asked my parents to get me Avatar for the new month... they didn't have enough money to buy it off of James Cameron... And so I am still stuck writing Fanfiction until I can gain ownership!**

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_I follow him like a fwampop looking for food around the kelutral. It must annoy him but he never says anything, hoping I'll leave on my own. I won't. He's safe to be around and he will protect me if I need it. Tsu'tey always protects me._

_He looks back at me as I giggle and trail behind him before he continues on his way to see his Ikran, Swizaw. It's not hard to tell that he loves riding almost as he loves to shoot his tsko swizaw. Sad, knowing I can't follow him, I start climbing higher up in the bows so that maybe I could see him as he flies. _

_I startle as I feel an arm wrap around my waist and pick me up over their shoulder. It's Tsu'tey, carrying me over to his Ikran. The closer we get, the more my excitement builds. The only other time I'd ever been on an Ikran was that day I feel and Tsu'tey saved me from becoming a food wrap at the base of kelutral. I tried to sit up more on his shoulder only to be tossed up onto Swizaw's back. Before I could fall off, Tsu'tey hopped up behind me and grabbed my waist to steady me while connecting his queue with one of Swizaw's antennae._

_As Swizaw prepared to take off, my stomach tightened with nervousness. What if I fell again? I was sure that Tsu'tey would catch me again, but what if he missed? He only just got his Ikran a season – being the youngest ever to claim one – and wasn't that experienced yet. My thoughts just increased my nervousness until Swizaw jumped off the branch in a steep dive that made me squeal in fear and I felt Tsu'tey's arm tighten around my miniscule waist. My eyes close tightly as the ground approaches faster and faster. _

_Suddenly, I felt Swizaw pull up from the dive as I clutched desperately at his neck. I didn't open my eyes until Tsu'tey nudged me to do so. What I saw made me glad I did. We were flying above the forests around the kelutral, making giant ovals and rustling the leaves. I couldn't help but laugh with amazement. Who knew there were so many trees in the forest? _

_I look behind me at Tsu'tey and his eyes show the same excitement that mine do. I'm still looking at him when something unknown flashes through his eyes and we're diving back down into the forest. Turning back around, I take my first _real_ look of the forest away from kelutral. It's not that I never came this way before, it's more that I was busy doing other things to pay attention but now, flying through the forest at mind blowing speeds, it takes my breath away. _

_We do not return to Kelutral until the tsawke is already touching the ground once more casting many colors that can only be seen during these times across the clouds. As Swizaw circles the kelutral searching for a free place to land, my eyes stay on the pinks, purples, and oranges of the setting sky. _

"_Thank you for letting me come with you, Tsu'tey," I chirp happily once we're standing once more in the bows of the kelutral. I'd never imagined flying would be so fun and it made me eager to get my own Ikran. That way I wouldn't have to rely on whenever Tsu'tey is willing to bring me with him._

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_He stares down at me for a moment before grunting and walking away towards the entrance to the inner columns. My stomach grumbles and I trail behind him once more, taking the children's path instead of the adults because I'm not yet able to jump successfully between the braches like Tsu'tey does. I wonder if I'll ever be as graceful and sure footed as he is. He's barely five seasons older than me but he's already better than most of the adults; it wasn't fair but I couldn't fault him for it. He worked harder than all other Na'vi to become the best he could be which is why he's received the honor to be mated to Sylwanin and become the next Olo'eyktan. _

_Once I reach the base of Kelutral where everyone's gathered to eat, I see Tsu'tey sitting with Eytukan, Mo'at, and Sylwanin. My stomach twists as he sits there laughing with Sylwanin and I'm overcome with envy. Why couldn't it have been me?_

My eyes slowly open as my alarm clock goes off. I loathe that incessant beeping with all of being – but then again, who doesn't? I'm irritated that I couldn't see more of the dreams that I'd come to enjoy more than my time awake. I'm curious about the girl whose name I have yet to learn and her culture.

Looking at the still blaring clock, I see that I have barely twenty five minutes to get ready to walk to school. It would be barely enough time to take a quick shower and get dressed before finding my homework and rushing out the door. My hand reaches up and punches the off button a little more harshly than is appropriate for the insignificantly annoying piece of machinery and I sit up to stare at the wall across from my bed.

In the last couple weeks since my dreams started, they've become cluttered with diagrams of the Alpha Centauri System, pictures of the planet Polyphemus, and, most importantly, pictures and articles on its moon, Pandora, and the aliens that inhabit it. In the center of the cluttered mess was a giant printout of one of the aliens, the Na'vi.

He was standing next to what was probably a human and, in comparison, he was a giant; the human was barely more than half his height. He had blue elf-like ears that had gages and large, yellow eyes that reminded me of a cat. If he'd had human proportions, he would've been diagnosed as anorexic because of his too thin waist but because of the muscle definition it seemed normal, natural. He only had four fingers and toes but I found most surprising was the tail with a small tuft of fine black hair at the tip. He was a most beautiful specimen.

Despite what most people would, and do, think, I did not keep this picture because I was interested as a species – even though on some level that was true. No, I kept the picture because he was one of the people that were in my dreams. Given that he wasn't one of the Na'vi the girl from my dreams actively hung out with, she was way too interested in the future leader, but she still interacted with him upon occasion. He was a hunter and he could barely carve his bow when he was given his branch from the kelutral.

"Tara, if you don't hurry up you'll be late for school," my fathers head pokes through the curtains of my door. When he see's what I'm looking at, I see him shake his head from the corner of my vision before coming in and sitting down next to me. "Why are you so into them? Most children your age would find more interest in boys and makeup, but you're interested in giant, blue aliens. Not that I'm not glad you're not interested in boys, but why? What makes these aliens special?"

"The girl," I reply quietly. I feel his body tense next to me. He does not like the dreams and they scare him. Not only that, but every time they were brought up my step-mother made a big fuss over it claiming tat they weren't real and making both of our lives miserable. I point at the picture as I face him. "She knows him. Not very well but they talk sometimes. He's a hunter."

He sighs before looking at my clock. "Go take a shower before you're late. We'll talk about this tonight before your step-mother gets home."

"Yes, Papa," I get up and am part way out my door when he catches my arm and pulls me into a hug. "I need to take a shower…"

"I love you, Tara," his voice is muffled by my hair. "No matter what you do, or what you dream, you're still my daughter and I will love you no matter what."

"…I know."

He lets me go and backs up a bit to let me go. "I know you know, but when you call me Papa, it makes me feel like I kicked a puppy."

"Dad, you're ridiculous," I laugh and he joins in after a moment.

"Go get in the shower, little star," he smiles down at me and swats me towards out meager bathroom. "If you want to see you aliens in real life, you need to make it to school on time."

Those words were all I needed to hear before I bolted for the bathroom to take the quickest shower in my life.

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**So for names I got some feedback (give a giant shout out to _clumsycupid _and _Sonya-Valentine_!) and I chose the three names out of those that I liked best for you all to choose from! I'm going to need her name for the next chapter so please give me your input cuz I like all three equally!**

**And the names are:**

**Tanhì (meaning 'Star')**

**Tsyal (Meaning 'wing')**

**Tìrol (Meaning 'Song')**

**So review to choose or even to give me input on the story and correct any errors and such! I also want to tell you all that I LOVE favorites; they make my world go round! Which leads me to give a shout out to: _clumsysupid, NaviOfPandora74, Sonya-Valentine, _and _kanna-yamamoto_! Thank you for favoriting this story!**

**Love you all,  
**

**Hana**


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